Our efforts have won more local police officers

Amid mounting concerns about quality-of-life public safety issues in Washington Heights-Inwood, I posted a petition online on Sunday calling for the addition of 20 officers to the 34th Precinct. In just 2 1/2 days 500 people have signed on. And I am thrilled to report that our message is getting heard: Dept. Inspector Capul, commanding officer of the 34th, called to tell me that he is assigning an additional 9 officers to the night-time Quality-of-Life Conditions Squad! I will be delivering a print-out of our petition to him so that he can read the many specific points which everyone has raised in the comments section.

We definitely still want to keep the pressure on, so continue to pass on the link for the petition to anyone who hasn’t yet signed: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/more4d34/petition.html.

First image of condo coming to 192md & Bway

The new luxury condos uptown just keep on coming. At right is an image of the building to be developed on the emptly lot at 4469 Broadway (@ 192nd St.). Here's how the architect's website describes the project:

"The first floor will have retail space, the second will be doctors offices and the 3rd through 8th will be luxury condominium apartments. There will also be parking in the cellar. Amenities will include a gym for the tenants, washer and dryer in every unit and terraces and balconies in various locations."

I applaud the developer for designing a building which fits into the scale and context of the surrounding community--unlike the infamous 25-story tower going up at 184th St. & Overlook Terrace. But I wish there were some affordable units included in the project. And we'll have to be vigilant during the construction process to make sure disruption to the neighbors in minimized.